Priorities

Why is it that people place more emphasis on "things" rather than people. As I write this my two year old daughter is sleeping (after 2 hours of fighting it), but she is sweating profusely. Her hair is all wet, her face is damp...and she is just wearing a t-shirt. The reason is her grandparents refuse to turn on the air conditioning. They live the majority of their day in their master bedroom. In there, they have a heater, a/c, microwave, etc. So there is no need to heat and/or cool the rest of the house. We are dying here. Nope, the temperature has to stay at a certain level or they pay more in utilities. It's midnight and my son is still awake because he is hot too. You are also not allowed to use any electricity from noon to 6:00 pm. Yes, I was told that as I was waiting for clothes to come out of the dryer. They are on a special plan to reduce costs. Nothing can be run during those hours. Great!!! Yesterday, my husband set up the slip n' slide for the kids to play in the backyard. It was hot... Their grandfather was indignant because it could burn the grass. He didn't want it set up. My husband put it up not knowing it would become a major issue. They didn't play long, let's put it that way. We also brought a small pool, guess they won't be using that either. Grass is a thing. Let the kids be kids. What else are they going to do...stay in a hot house staring at the walls because they can't watch tv or play video games. It's too hot to play outside. Yeah, it starts to cool down in the evening, but hey, that's when you can turn stuff on again...except the air conditioning...

Siliac

Siliac is a very food limiting disease. My mother developed this about two years ago. Apparently it is something you are born with, but it remains dormant until something triggers it. People with siliac cannot eat anything with gluten. My mother cannot have anything with flour, wheat, oats, barley, rye and stuff like that. She can't even drink regular beer. It is amazing what food products have gluten in them, even soy sauce. She has to read all food labels. I made pizza tonight and had to be creative for her. Made her pizza on tortilla shells. Just think of all the foods you are no longer able to eat-cakes, cookies, bread, pizza. She had been extremely thin from this disease, but now her body hoards whatever she eats. She eats lots of salads (minus the croutons). She is so sensitive that she brought her own bread to a restaurant, but the crumbs from the other breads got on it and she got sick. She ordered rice noodles at a restaurant but it's cooked in the same water as other stuff, so she can't eat there any more. Very restrictive diet. And the sad thing is - it's genetic. Great. The things I can look forward to. Not a bright future for someone who loves to bake. I have my own health issues and have to be careful of what I eat, let's just add that in. There's many a day I live on saltines when my ulcer flares up. No flour products...oh dear.

Regression and Guilt

And so it begins...We are visiting my parents, with my husband leaving in two days (and yes, he is counting). When we brought stuff in, the changes they made to their house made us very suspicious. Kind of like they were expecting our visit to be more long, long term than what it is. Sure enough, it was brought up today. About missing the kids, keeping family together, helping each other out, etc. Maybe we could live here with them indefinitely. It would mean so much to them to be with their grandkids. Why do I have the feeling this is going to be a long summer?

And why is it that I, a perfectly normal adult seem to regress when I am around them. Years of conditioning I guess. Hate to make waves, easier to give in, who knows. Today I ended up making pizza for the whole group. Tomorrow they are having company and I am catering it. Enchiladas for 12. I really have no idea how it happened. Although the fact that I hate my mother's cooking may have something to do with it. (She is also on a special diet for her health and so she eats some bizarre things). The deal starts with "if you cook, I'll clean the kitchen". Yeah, right...she wanders off and plays with the grandkids. Trust me I've walked away but the dishes don't budge...for days. It finally drives me crazy enough to just do them. Can't deal with dishes piled up. It's easier to just get them over with. So I've reverted back to the cooking and cleaning person again. I told them after Saturday I'm not cooking any more. I eat very little and there's no reason for me to cook. At least I put them on notice. If I live on salad I get the benefits of no cooking, no cleaning and hey, maybe I'll lose some weight. Maybe eating healthier will help my backbone get stronger. I made a start tonight, let's hope it continues.

A First

Today was the first day my husband and I ate a meal in a restaurant without the kids. We had eaten without our oldest son, but never without our 2 year old. Not because we didn't want to, but she is quite a handful and people just don't seem to volunteer to watch her. We have found it's just easier not to eat out at all. Fighting with her is more work than the meal is worth. But today she had grandparents (well, one at least) who were willing to take her on. We are not the outdoorsy type, but their grandmother is. She played ball with them, took them for a walk to the park, and all around wore them out. We got out for 2 1/2 hours, and when we got back it was naptime. Kids were so worn out, although the oldest will never admit it. He doesn't take naps, but he sure crashed at night. We had a nice lunch, picking a place the kids would not like. Usually, if we do eat out, it's at a place they enjoy the food. So yeah!!! we got to have a nice relaxing and civilized meal. Hope it doesn't take 2 1/2 years to have another one.

In The Blink of an Eye

The Bible says that "time and unforseen occurrence" can befall all of us. Tonight we were witness to how true that statement is and how quickly things can happen. We were coming from visiting my sister-in-law at her home. Now, her family knows all too well how quickly situations change. Her husband was in a major automobile accident, leaving him in a comatose state. In the blink of an eye their lives changed dramatically. My family and I were driving down the freeway to our home, and going at a nice pace, when all of a sudden this motorcycle came up on the right and passed us. My husband estimated his speed at about 120 mph. He passed us like we were standing still. I made the comment that he's going to cause an accident. After he passed us he began weaving around cars. He was obviously in a hurry to get somewhere. But unfortunately, he never made it to his destination. All of a sudden there was a puff of smoke and he was laying in the middle of the freeway. Everyone started pulling over. We backed up and my husband got out to check on the rider while I pulled out my cell phone. After spending quite a while on hold with 911 (don't have an emergency on a Saturday night, you'll be on hold a long time), the paramedics, fire trucks, highway patrol swarmed the area. There was a young man who lost his life tonight. He clipped a car, causing him to lose control of his bike, and then he was run over by a semi that was travelling right behind him. A motorcycle vs. a semi...not a good scenario. My husband saw the motorcycle driver and he probably won't sleep tonight. This young man had many people shaking their heads, with the big rig driver just shaking all over. In a split second his life was over. My husband and I have been talking and find that it's so sad. Tonight a mom is going to be told that her young son didn't survive. Where was he going in such a hurry? Who was he going to see, or where was he coming from? Who did he leave behind? Now we'll never know the answers, but we do know that someone will be receiving a knock at their door. It's the knock that no one wants to answer. Take your time. It's better to get where you're going a little late, than to be in such a hurry you won't get there at all.

And Then There Was One

dog that is. Seems like our place is shrinking. We lost Oliver on Saturday, now here it is Wednesday and we have rehomed our dog, Princess. Now, Oliver was totally unplanned, but we have been wanting to find a home for Princess off and on for a while. Since we are moving this weekend, we became a bit more proactive in our search. A family came by last night and off Princess went. Now, Princess was (is) a sweet dog, but Lady really wanted to be an only puppy. While my two year old had another meltdown at losing another pet, Lady is walking around the house going "Princess who?". There was quite a bit of sibling rivalry with Lady and Princess, so much so that they constantly growled and barked at each other to get our undivided attention. One on one they were great, but together, ugh! So Lady is now the queen bee and is loving it. If the people come back with Princess I think Lady would block the door. But, I think Princess will have a good home. They have a 6 year old and a 2 year old and a chihuahua. No competition with another Eskimo. So, good for you Princess, you deserve to be able to rule your own roost, so to speak. So, now we are down to 2 cats, 1 dog and 1 bird. Things are simplifying over here, so much so that now I'm eyeing the bird... I like not having to be responsible for so many bodies. We could actually fit into an apartment now...as long as it's not a studio...

Sad Day

Yesterday was a sad day for our family. Our cat of 11 years, Oliver, had to take a permanent nap. Now Oliver is not our oldest cat, nor was he the kids favorite, but he was my special kitty. One cat loves my husband and son, and the other loves both my kids (or anyone who will hold her). Oliver was only my cat. He was rescued at about a week old when his mom abandoned him. Of course she did, he was suffering from respiratory infection and would never have survived unless someone intervened. It was interesting because I was actually trying to catch his sibling, but because he was so weak and sick he couldn't move. I took him home, then the vet. After dropping a lot of money and coming home with lots of medication Oliver came home to stay with us. It was only supposed to be a temporary thing because we had two cats. But, after weeks of bottle feedings, potty training, socializing, etc. he became a member of the family. Oliver even went to work with me, and being a temp at the time, was a big thing. He would ride to work in my lap. After a while he became my baby, and ultimately started a power struggle over my affections. Oliver thought he was my baby first, yet my husband thought I was his wife first. It was funny to see these two males posturing for dominance. Whenever my husband would walk in the room, Oliver would hiss at him and come over to me. Then, whenever my husband saw Oliver in the room, he would come up to me to give me a hug. After a while they reached an uneasy truce, and while they never did get along, they at least could tolerate each other. But, at the end, even my husband felt sorry for him. Oliver had sudden kidney failure and could no longer eat, drink, or use the cat box. He was slowly starving to death. My husband even commented that he looked like a concentration victim. As much as I love Oliver I don't want to see him suffer and so for him, we put him down. I will miss you tremendously. Even my two year old has been asking "where's Olver". My son has taken it hard as well. So from your family, I'm sorry and I'll miss you...